The three things I learnt at reform conference that we're all going through.

Something magical happens when a group of people gather together to listen, open up, learn and be inspired (ahem, Gem Conference), moved by the content delivered by accomplished leaders in their fields.

Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder or flying solo as an entrepreneur, we're all craving the same things.

Last week I made the cross country trip to beautiful BC to attend Reform Conference, hosted at an award winning event center in the forest of Squamish- 40 minutes North of Vancouver. The highly curated panels, wellness breaks and keynote talks delivered dozens of key takeaways. But three themes came up over and over again during the panel discussions, during group workshops and as I chatted with other attendees during downtime.

1. We're all craving community.

Whether you're a part of a big corporation or an entrepreneur, we all feel alone sometimes. We all want to feel like we're doing it with others and that someone has our backs. There has been a big shift over the past 5-7 years in people quitting their secure jobs and starting their own thing- the allure of no boss, no commute and working from home was (and still is) pretty shiny. But there seems to be a collective shift happening for entrepreneurs as the reality of working alone day after day becomes lonely, and they seek out the camaraderie of shared struggles and successes with others like them.

2. We all feel stuck.

Growth comes in ebbs and flows. Whether your career has become stagnant and you feel like there is no where else for you to grow in your company, or you feel constantly bogged down by the endless to-do list of entrepreneurship as you move from sales and marketing to accounting to product development, production and all the other hats you wear owning your own business. We all have that stuck feeling from time to time, if not all the time. Revisiting your daily, weekly and monthly goal setting and assessing your plan can help you to feel like you're moving the needle- sometimes even checking the most mundane tasks off your list can mentally make you feel more accomplished.

Take a look back at where you started and how far you've come. This simple exercise can remind you that even when you remember having that stuck feeling, your career or biz have actually come a long way!

3. A lot of us aren't sleeping (or struggling to find that elusive mindful/physical/healthy/soulful balance in some way).

We're all tired! None of us are getting enough sleep, and the elusive balance of working our asses off and healthy living feels harder and harder to achieve. Wellness isn't just a buzz word anymore, its critical to our performance as employees, business owners and to being a good human. Wellness is being in tune with your body, understanding your baseline and how outside stresses affect us and developing habits to keep us balanced. Practices are unique to you- what helps you decompress and make you feel calmer so that you can be a peak performer? Breath work, yoga, an outdoor run, getting out to nature, 8 hour sleep a night, cooking, art, time with friends and family. The busier and busier you get, the more important it is to prioritize what makes you a better human and build daily habits around it.

Gem Conference is going to explore all three of these topics with out panels and speakers (and more) so that you can develop your own habits and mindsets around your own growth. Buy your ticket here.